Okitsu kaze yowa ni fukurashi naniwagata akatsuki kakete nami zo yosu naru - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

沖つ風夜半に吹くらし難波潟
暁かけて波ぞ寄すなる

Roma-ji: Okitsu kaze yowa ni fukurashi naniwagata akatsuki kakete nami zo yosu naru
English Translation: The offshore wind
must have blown in the deep night—
at Naniwa Bay,
on toward the break of dawn
I hear the waves come breaking.
Meaning: The offshore wind must be blowing in the night: at Naniwa Bay, on toward dawn, I hear the waves come rolling in.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1597

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is a single poem on the waves of Naniwa Bay. The offshore wind seems to have blown in the night, for at Naniwa Bay the sound of waves breaking can be heard on toward dawn. The headnote gives the topic as unknown and records nothing of the circumstances.
The author, "Gon-Chūnagon Sadayori," is Fujiwara no Sadayori. A son of Fujiwara no Kintō, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor.
Naniwa Bay is an inlet at Naniwa in Settsu Province, at the head of present-day Osaka Bay. It is a poetic place name sung with reeds and channel markers.

The first line, "okitsu kaze," means "the offshore wind." "Tsu" is an old case particle equivalent to "no."
The second line, "yowa ni fukurashi," means "seems to be blowing in the night." The poem breaks after the second line with the inferential auxiliary "rashi," inferring the offshore wind from the sound of the waves.
The third line, "naniwagata," is the inlet in Settsu Province. Following the Nagara Bridge sequence, the Naniwa shore becomes the stage.
The fourth line, "akatsuki kakete," means "on toward dawn," showing that the sound of the waves continues as time moves from midnight to dawn.
The last line, "nami zo yosu naru," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with "naru," the attributive form of the auxiliary "nari" that infers from sound. It depicts a shore before dawn where the waves are not seen but only heard.
Author: Fujiwara no Sadayori
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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